spacetoday.net: Opportunity rolls onto Martian surface

Posted: Sat, Jan 31, 2004, 9:42 AM ET (1442 GMT)
Opportunity image of its lander (NASA/JPL)

Move one day ahead of schedule, the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity successfully rolled off its lander and onto the Martian surface early Saturday. Opportunity rolled off the lander shortly before 5 am EST (1000 GMT), moving about three meters from the lander before stopping as commanded. The rolloff, already pushed up one day to late Saturday night, was moved up again because flight controllers had made good progress preparing the rover for the move. Scientists said Friday that the rover had already made a key scientific finding: its spectrometer has identified what appears to be hematite, a mineral that on Earth is formed only in the presence of water. Scientists had believed that Opportunity's landing site in Meidiani Planum was rich in hematite, but needed the rover to confirm its presence.